By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
In three weeks, the next presidential “era,” the overarching set of policies and values that America votes by, will be defined for the history books.
Dr. Curt Nichols, a political science professor who specializes in the presidency, supreme courts and political parties, said presidential “eras” occur due to cycles within American politics.
“So you get these eras — you get the Jeffersonian era, the Jacksonian era, the New Deal, the Reagan Revolution,” Nichols said. “You get these time periods that kind of fit together historically and create different contexts for presidents.”
Nichols said that over time, these cycles have become more spaced out and that there’s a good chance America is currently in a “post-cycle era.” However, Nichols said he personally believes we are still in the Obama era.
Baylor political science professor Dr. Dave Bridge recently had his students write a paper on whether or not America is still within the age of Ronald Reagan. Pittsburgh senior Luke D’Ambrosio said he thinks the age of Reagan is no longer upon us and instead, the country has entered the age of Trump.
“When Donald Trump came [onto] the scene in 2015, he really knew how to leverage social media and get fast attention and do it quickly, do it constantly,” D’Ambrosio said. “Whether you like him or you don’t like him, that’s who has been the GOP candidate for the past three election cycles now.”
On the other hand, Fairhope, Ala., senior Ann Marie Fedro said while America is out of the Reagan era, the new era is not defined by Trump. Instead, she said young generations have begun a new era not defined by a leader with many more voters in the middle of the political spectrum than previously.
“A lot of the people in the country are moderate,” Fedro said. “It’s just that the people on both sides of the extreme speak the loudest. We’re seeing a lot of differences between how we vote now [versus how] our parents vote because social issues have changed our opinion on abortion [and] same-sex marriage.”
Fedro said that while it’s unlikely, she hopes to see more unity between parties as older members of office begin to move out.
Bridge said he has seen more pro-choice Republicans and more economically-conservative Democrats, but that there are certain qualities that each party will cling to no matter what presidential era America enters.
“One thing has held, and that is what defines the Republican Party and its tax cuts,” Bridge said. “It’d be really great if we could work together, but I just think that we’re incentivized not to.”
While different presidential eras have historically been able to garner support from voters from all political parties, in recent years, Nichols said that parties have found little middle ground in recent years.
“People don’t want their politicians to compromise,” Nichols said. “Almost all Republicans agree with certain things like… tax cuts, and almost all Democrats agree with other things.”
Despite this, D’Ambrosio said there has been an increase in historically blue voters like ethnic minorities going red since Trump won the presidential office. He said our current era depends on what happens in November’s election.
“If Trump loses this election, then I think it’ll prove that perhaps we’re not in a Trump era and that it may have just been a fluke,” D’Ambrosio said. “If he wins this election, though, I think that he’ll solidify himself as a very consequential figure, if not the most consequential figure of this century to date.”
